


Christmas-Island Style

by hallelujah99



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: Canon Divergent, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Romantic Fluff, Shark attack what shark attack, Shoni-centric, romanticizing being stranded on an island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28274568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hallelujah99/pseuds/hallelujah99
Summary: The girls celebrate Christmas on the island.
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 21
Kudos: 390





	Christmas-Island Style

**Author's Note:**

> The girls are still on the island for Christmas! Why? I don’t know! Shark attacks don’t happen and Nora isn’t up to anything. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

It was an unremarkable morning on the island. The girls were waking up, freshening up in the ocean, eating some goat jerky and chatting about plans for the day. Life had been relatively stable lately, which was only weird when you got to thinking about it. Rachel and Leah had mastered fishing with nets that Fatin wove out of various plant materials, the girls had found a herd of wild goats (because, duh, the first one had to come from somewhere) and had developed a system of killing one only occasionally, and using every part of it wisely. They found a few more fruit trees and some good roots, with some very scary trial and error along the way of figuring out what was edible. Dot mastered the art of boiling salt off the water and honestly, the food was starting to taste pretty good to all of them. The drama had died down, for the most part, as everyone settled in and constant hunger and fear subsided. It was life now, and they’d all settled in. 

Nora pulled out her notebook, as usual, (she was on her third one now) and looked up at everyone. “Anyone wanna guess what day it is?” She smiled. 

“I don’t know, Thursday?” Dot guessed. It was almost weird how foreign a word and concept that was now.

“Um, no, well…” Nora furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure actually, I wasn’t keeping track of that.”

“My birthday?” Fatin guessed. 

“What’s your birthday?” Nora asked her.

“March ninth.” 

“It can’t possibly be March! Is it? Isn’t it like...September or November or something?” Leah asked.

“Neither of you are close.” Nora laughed. 

“Is it the day when someone finally goes back to get more of those little black berries from the far side of the island?” Toni asked, throwing a look at Rachel, who had been promising to do so for a while. 

“No, stop, stop, it’s Christmas! Merry Christmas everyone!” Nora exclaimed. 

It was a bit jarring to most of the other girls. They’d all chosen to forgo keeping track of time, and to be reminded of it was strange. It was also a reminder, for most of them, of how much life was going on without them. 

Leah wondered if her mother was in their kitchen, making sugar cookies without someone to help taste-test the dough. Shelby wondered who would be playing Mary in the church Christmas pageant this year, something she’d always wanted to do. Martha thought of her family making handmade presents, with none for or from her. Toni thought about the way the Christmas lights were twinkling on the Minnesota snow. Nora and Rachel thought about their parents decorating the tree, without their daughters to playfully argue about who would be the one to put the star at the top. Dot thanked her lucky stars she wouldn’t be able to sit alone somewhere and listen to O, Holy Night. 

Fatin voiced her thoughts “I can’t believe that I’ve spent this many months completely removed from all of society and somehow Christmas is still a thing!” Fatin’s family didn’t celebrate Christmas, of course, but she still felt sentimental about the days her and her brothers had off of school, and her parents off of work, giving them a chance to travel somewhere beautiful. Then again, she was on a tropical island anyway. 

“Well, Fatin, if you don’t mind, I still think it’d be nice to celebrate it somehow.” Shelby said. 

“I don’t mind, but I don’t see how!” Fatin said. 

“Yeah, I uh, I didn’t actually get any of you guys presents, since I don’t really have any money and didn’t really know it was December.” Toni joked.

“Yeah, Nora, I can’t believe you forgot to tell us when it was Black Friday! We missed out on all the deals!” Leah teased.

“Well, it’ll be a little different this year, sure, but we can still find a way to mark it.” Shelby said, ever optimistic. 

“What do you like to do to celebrate it, Shelby?” Martha asked. 

“Well, you know, all the traditional stuff, lights and a tree, and the kids Christmas pageant at church. Last year, I thought for sure that I’d be playing Mary this year.”  
Shelby said, only a little wistfully. 

Toni scoffed momentarily then had a quick change of heart. “Okay we can do a Christmas pageant, but I call dibs on Joseph.”

Shelby laughed and shook her head. “No, no, I’m fine skipping on the whole pageant thing.”

“Gonna have to skip on a lot of things.” Leah said, as she got up and began her day’s duty of making soap from ash and goat fat. “Like this time last year, I was making cookies, not soap.” 

“Well, there’s no cookies, but Toni and I could grab some lychees?” Shelby offered. 

Everyone snickered. 

“If you guys were to grab lychees, would you be back before tomorrow?” Rachel teased. “Because that would be a big change from the last fifteen times you guys have gone to get lychees.”

“Oh give them a break, they gotta give each other their Christmas presents!” Fatin teased, as Shelby turned bright red. 

“We’ll be back! But we should get going now so we have time later.” Toni said, grabbing a few bags and tugging on Shelby’s hand. 

“Oooh Toni’s ready for an early start this morning!” Leah called out as the couple walked towards the woods, and the rest of the group whistled and cheered. 

Shelby and Toni had learned quickly that there’s no point in trying to be discreet about their sexual activities. Privacy of any sort was simply not something any of them really experienced in the same way anymore, and as long as no one was literally watching them in the act, they couldn’t really be bothered to care. 

After they walked away, Nora turned to the rest of the group and said “We should try to find some way to make it special for Shelby. Christmas is obviously a really big deal for her. 

“How are we gonna do that?” Rachel asked, as she gathered fishing materials. 

“We’ll think of something.” Nora said, beginning to jot down ideas.

_

A while later, Shelby curled into Toni’s arms in the shade of their favorite tree. It was far from the only place that had seen action, but it was their go-to, and the others understood the area was off-limits. 

“Well I can officially say that was my favorite Christmas present ever.” Toni said, leaning over to kiss Shelby. 

“Hmm it’s between that and the time I got a pink bike with big tassels.” Shelby joked. 

“Damn, okay, am I gonna have to give you a little more? Sweeten the deal.” Toni offered, despite her exhaustion.

“Maybe later, babe.” Shelby said, burrowing her into Toni’s neck. 

“So, the bike, was that really your favorite present? Before this anyway?”

“Um, probably. Once I got older, then it was just like clothes and stuff which is fine but not as fun.” Shelby responded. She didn’t have to ask to understand Toni’s experience with Christmas had been different to hers, and that she likely went several Christmases without presents. Stuff like that, she let Toni disclose at her own pace.

“When I was in like second grade, my school’s social worker gave me a Barbie. And I was never a fan of Barbies but the fact he cared enough to give me something, when no one else did…” Shelby squeezed her girlfriend close. She wasn’t sure how to respond in moments like these, so she just showed Toni her love and hoped it could help, somehow. 

“I wish I could give you a real Christmas present.” Toni said.

“What would you give me?” Shelby asked. It’s the thought that counts, anyway.

“I don’t know. Sappy shit, probably” Toni laughed, hiding her head in Shelby’s hair for a second.” 

“Like what?” Shelby prodded. Toni realized then, this was important to her. She was going to interpret this as though these were real gifts from Toni. 

“Um, probably something with a picture of us in it.” Toni said. There was not a single photograph of them together, she realized, but went on. “Maybe like a personalized snow globe, with our picture in it. I could send it to you in Texas, and that way you could have a white Christmas, at least with me, in the globe.” 

Why Toni chose a narrative where they lived apart, she had no idea, but the softness of it all was nearly too much for Shelby, and she pulled Toni in close and kissed her. “That’s the cheesiest, best thing I’ve ever heard.” Shelby said. 

Toni’s confidence shot up and she continued. “I’d get you one of those Spotify plaques with our song on it and a picture of us as the album cover.” They didn’t have a song either, but what did it matter. 

“Maybe order you something from New Zealand, made by Maori artists.” Toni suggested. Toni didn’t know much about her own cultural background, and it was one of those things she buried deep down, only having let Shelby see it recently. 

“And probably a little something-something from Victoria’s Secret.” Toni said, wiggling her eyebrows. “Not that you need it, because, wow.” She said, running her hand down Shelby’s naked back. 

Shelby laughed and enjoyed the comfortable feeling of Toni’s hands caressing her. 

“What would you get me?” Toni countered. Shit. Shelby hadn’t thought of that.

“I’m awful at gifts. Really, I am.” Shelby told her.

“I don’t believe that!” Toni reassured her.

“Well, not as good as you! You took all the good ideas.” Shelby complained. 

“Whatever it is, I’ll love it.” Toni promised, as though the gift was real.

“I don’t know! Something basketball related? Like a nice pair of basketball shoes?” Shelby guessed. 

“That would be perfect, really.” Toni was very much one for practical gifts, and Martha’s sister’s old shoes could definitely use replacing, if she were still playing. 

“And maybe I’d buy you tickets to go to one of those places where you can destroy things.” 

“Yes, oh my god, I’d love that!” Toni exclaimed. It wasn’t really necessary as life was now, Toni got plenty of frustration worked out chopping firewood and such, but if she were back home, she’d need an outlet like that.

“Aaaand maybe I’d grab you something from a little shop that my church tried to prevent from opening in our good Christian town.” Shelby said.

Toni gasped with faux-shock. “Shelby Goodkind, are you saying you’d buy me something from a…” she whispered “sex shop?”

Shelby giggled. “Well since apparently I’m in Texas and you’re in Minnesota, gotta have something to keep you until you see me again. Don’t need you wandering off to some other girl.”

“Fuck no, not happening, with or without a…” Shelby put her hand over Toni’s mouth and they broke into a fit of laughter. 

“I’m glad to hear that.” Shelby told her with sincerity, after the laughter had dissipated.

“Baby…” Toni said, arching back to look Shelby in the eyes and caress her face. “You know I love you so much.”

Shelby nodded. “I love you too. I just...there’s this island and there’s everything else in the world. And I just wonder sometimes how things would be if we weren’t here. Or if we ever...leave.”

Leaving the island was becoming more and more of a taboo topic.

“Look, babe, if we had just gone on a long weekend retreat, yeah, I don’t think anything would have happened between us. Probably not, because you were extremely closeted. And if we weren’t here, we’d be such different people, I’m not sure it’s really worth speculating on it, because there’s no way to know what life would look like. But the thing is, we’re here. And now we’ve changed as people and grown together and I can’t imagine a world in which this could ever just...go away. What I feel for you, that’s not going away. We’re intertwined, you got that? And if we ever get off, I’ll still feel you in my soul. And I’ll love you just as much in Minnesota or Texas or wherever as I do now. Got it?”

Shelby nodded and kissed Toni and held her close. It wasn’t a new sentiment, they knew each other felt that way, but that verbal confirmation, that was good to hear. It was a good Christmas present.

_

Shelby and Toni arrived back to camp at dusk, carting with them lychees, fresh water, some edible roots, and six wildflowers they’d found. 

As they approached, Shelby gasped when she saw what camp looked like. Several sticks burned as little torches in a row, flickering like Christmas lights. A large branch was propped upright in the sand, and the twins were putting on the finishing touches, hanging Fatin’s jewelry, ropes made of grass, and seagull feathers as ornaments.

Underneath the tree, big leaves wrapped around what must be Christmas presents.

“What is all this?” Shelby asked, tears coming to her eyes. 

“Well, we figured while you guys were off gathering some of the Christmas feast, we’d help with the celebration as well.” Leah said.

And here we thought we were so clever with our little presents. Shelby said, passing out the flowers to each girl with a hug and a “Merry Christmas.”

“This is lovely, you guys, thank you.” Martha said, twirling the flowers in her fingers. 

After eating their “Christmas feast” (their normal fish, roots and a few extra lychee) the girls turned their attention to what was under the tree. 

“So who are these gifts from?” Toni asked. 

“From me.” Nora smiled, passing them all out. The girls unwrapped the leaves, and inside, each found a beautiful drawing of herself. On the back of each page, was a short, personalized message from Nora. 

“Toni, your bravery and fiery personality inspire me every day, and I love the way you can make anyone laugh.”

“Shelby, your optimism has gotten me through so much, and I am always impressed at how much you continue to grow as a person.”

“Martha, your kindness and love for those around you is so special, and you make me feel so at ease whenever we are together.”

“Dot, you’re intelligent and driven, I know we would be nowhere without you and I’m so grateful for you,”

“Fatin, you are resourceful, insightful and hilarious and I have learned so much from you.

“Leah, you are hard-working, strong, and I know I can always count on you to be there for me and everyone else.”

“Rachel, I love you more than you’ll ever know, and I am amazed at how dedicated you are, and how much you’ve learned about yourself this year..”

“Nora, this is...this is really special, thank you so much.” Shelby said, getting up to hug her.

“I was thinking, you could all pass the papers around and write messages for each other. Like a little Christmas gift to everyone. 

And so they did, taking time to write something thoughtful and personal to everyone (of course, they added a sheet for Nora.) Toni and Shelby had trouble not taking too much room on each other’s sheets, and of course Fatin wrote some very risqué things, and everyone had a wonderful time writing for each other and reading what their friends, the only people in their world, wrote for them.

After they finished with that, they sat around talking about holiday memories.

Shelby shared that at age 12, she had secretly watched the Jingle Bell Rock scene from Mean Girls on repeat and tried to teach herself the dance. After Toni’s fit of laughter at picturing tiny, baby-gay Shelby obsessing over the girls in those little outfits, Rachel dared Shelby to demonstrate what she remembered. 

She insisted she needed the song, and before they knew it, they were all belting out their favorite Christmas songs and dancing along. Even Fatin took it as an excuse to dance, though she wasn’t as familiar with most of the songs. 

The girls had sand all they could remember from Jingle Bell Rock, Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, Frosty the Snowman (which had inspired Martha to construct a small sandman), All I Want for Christmas Is You, Sleigh Ride, Let it Snow and more. 

Finally, they all tired out and laid around the fire. “Well, I for one can say this was the best Christmas I ever celebrated.” Fatin volunteered. It was easy for her to say, of course, but the others quietly counted it among the best, alongside treasured memories of discovering stockings magically filled by Santa and pies made with love by grandmothers. 

Shelby thought back to the church service she was missing, that wouldn’t even accept her as Mary anymore. She looked at Toni settling her head into her lap. It felt more than worth it. 

“Silent night…” She sang quietly. Dot smiled at her encouragingly and she continued “Holy night, all is calm, all is bright.”

The girls fell asleep to Shelby’s gentle, beautiful song.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! A comment would be a very awesome Christmas present :)


End file.
